Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-10-25
miscellaneous.
The Boys Lunch.

| once stood by a farmhouse table while
a lunch was being thrown together for a
boy twelve or thirteen, who was only
waiting tor that to be off to school The
pail was large enough to hold dinners for
three or four children, and whatever was
put into it could not fail of being jolted in
to fragments in the mile and half jour-
ney it must take in the hands of an ener-
getic boy.
Two thick, irregular slices of brown
bread were spread hastily with butter,
placed together, and deposited in the bot
tom. Then in went cold sausage, left
from the family breakfast, and huge Gu
cumber pickle. A wedge of dried-apple
pie crowned the whole, the cover was
pushed on, aad the boy, who had stood
by with look of disgust on his face,
which he was too well disciplined to put
into words, picked up his pail and started
Tor school, pausing just outside the door
to supplement his repast with half-a-dozen
haf-ripe sweet apples.
On the same table stood basket of
delicious looking Bartlett pears, and
another of snowy fresh eggs, but those
were for market, and the farmer was al
ready Harvesting to take them there. In
he pantry was q generous piece of cold
roast beef, and in the cake cupboard was
a store of crisp seed cakes, and delicate
cup-cakes, not to mention loaveS of pound
and truit cake, but all those were tor ex-
pected company. What if they were !?
There were plenty for the company and
the boy too.
If had been preparing that boys mid
day meal, | would first have found a
basket of suitable size, if | had bought
little basket would have withstood the
boys banging as well as the pail, and
perhaps il it had been pretty basket with
IA lid, he would not have banged it so
much. Then | would have lined the
bottom with clean white paper, fresh
piece every morning.
would have cut the brown bread thinly
and evenly, buttered 1t as neatly as pos
sible, inserted some of the cold meat be-
tween the slices, and wrapped them firm
ly in some more Of the same white paper.
would have boiled a couple OF those
eggs, and tied up a little paper OF mingled
salt and pepper to season them. | would
have made another little parcel of two or
three seed cakes, or a cup-cake or two,
added one or two of those lovely pears
and covered the whole with a napkin, if it
were only one made from the end of a
worn out tabecloth. In short, # my BOY
had to carry his dinner to school, he should
find bit of his mothers loving thought
for him in the bottom of the basket.
Then would have epioined the boy to
shake the crumbs out of his basket, fold up
his papers and napkin neatly, and lay
them therein, and bring them safely home
again. Too much bother to make about a
boy | am not so certain of that. Girls
pick up the little graces of life naturally,
but one has often to make pride for boys.
Then Just as little child will often be-
have better whole afternoon for being
"dressed up" putting off mischief and
noise with the bingham morning apron,
and putting on mildness and docllitY with
the clean collar and freshly polished shoes,
so think, oitentimes, the carefully put
up lunch is more daintily eaten, with more
regard for the proprieties and amenities.
And that is always something in the
bringing up of boys.-H. ANNETTE Poole,
in Good Housekeeping.